


never again

by notavodkashot



Series: crunchverse AU [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Past Child Abuse, Regicide, explicit mentions of:
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 08:33:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14951235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notavodkashot/pseuds/notavodkashot
Summary: Cid confides in Nyx, the lengths he will go to, to keep Cor safe.





	never again

“Don’t fuck him up.”

Nyx looked up from the window, watching the shadow of Cor’s massive bulk disappearing into the distance, and found Cid standing by the doorway, his granddaughter a bundle of linens in his arms.

“What?” Nyx asked, because he wasn’t sure what he’d done now, though Cor had of course warned him that sometimes you didn’t need to fuck up for Cid to tell you to stop it, sometimes you just had to think it.

Nyx was starting to think it was more than a joke, that.

“Cor.” Cid walked up to him and unceremoniously shoved Cindy into his arms, which was frankly the weirdest way Nyx had ever been disarmed in his life, but admittedly he could… well, he couldn’t do much else but hold the girl close and slowly rock her as she made a fussy noises at him “Don’t fuck him up, Ulric,” Cid went on, standing back and putting his hands on his hips, eying him up like he was figuring out where to strike first. “'cause I like you. I like you a lot. But I will fucking shoot you right between the eyes, if you fuck him up.”

Nyx considered his options carefully and then decided to go straight for the throat.

“Like you shot the late King, I presume?”

Except the look on Cid’s face made him feel guilty about that, shit.

“…he told you that.”

And Nyx came to the uncomfortable, but no less true realization that Cid Sophiar mattered, in the tiny circle that existed around him, that boundary between himself and his own, and the rest of the world. Because Cor loved him like a father and Cid returned the sentiment just as fiercely, and frankly… frankly, Nyx didn’t want to pick a fight. They already had. There had already been a funeral this week. It was enough.

And he did have a fucking adorable child in his arms, too. There was that.

“Oh well, not verbatim, no,” he said, softer, less aggressive, more of a purr than a snarl and the thought made him smile wryly and swallow back the coeurl. “But I’m not… I’m not  _stupid_ , Cid. He doesn’t want to consider that you did that. He doesn’t want to know for  _sure_.” Which was true enough, considering Cor couldn’t bring himself to really speak of the King’s death beyond empty little platitudes that spoke volumes on their own. “Which makes me think he  _does_ know, rather for certain.”

Cid reached out to grab Cindy and walked out of the room. Nyx followed after him, and watched the old man gently and carefully place the small girl in her crib.

“…He was fifteen,” Cid said, looking down at his granddaughter, rubbing his hands on his pants and then walking out towards the kitchen without looking at Nyx in the eye.

“Cid,” Nyx said, as soothing as he could, “you don’t have to explain.”

“But I want to,” Cid snarled, stepping on a stool to reach the highest cupboard and pulling and unlabeled bottle of glossy, pale amber liquid from it. “I  _need_ to.” He gave Nyx a feral look, even as he served their glasses. “I’ve been trying to swallow this fuckery for  _fifteen years_ , I need someone to know.”

Nyx took the glass and smelled it. It lit up the entirety of his nose and made skull shudder, just from the smell. He waited until Cid had his own in hand, toasted, and then tipped it back anyway.

It hit as hard as he thought it would.

“You need someone to tell you,” Nyx hissed, holding onto the table and waiting for the world to stop spinning around his head, “ _you did the right thing_.”

“He was  _fifteen_ ,” Cid snarled, knuckles white on the edge of the table. “He was small then. Small and bony and just gone sheet white with bloodloss. Nearly killed himself in the process of bringing the King here, trying to save him. And he…  _fucking hell_.”

“Cid,” Nyx tried, once more, to stop him from falling down the pit of memories, more so when Cid was stuck shuddering in place.

“He collected marbles,” Cid snarled, and set out with slightly trembling hands to serve them another round. “On the trip. He collected marbles and we pretended not to notice, because he was a  _kid_ and he was trying so hard not to be. But we wanted him to be.” Cid stared at his glass, emptier than fuller, and licked his teeth like they ached. “He collected marbles and liked to kick up mud in puddles after rain, and he hated raisins and leeks and never finished his peas.” He tilted back the glass. “And he was lying there on my spare bed, two thirds dead and the King’s cock tearing him open and the King’s hands round his throat and I just. I just.”

“ _Cid_.”

Nyx swooped in to grab the bottle and the man and half expected to get bitten for his trouble, when he flinched the moment he grabbed him.

“He was  _fifteen_. He’d been sleeping in his room since he was  _twelve_. And we didn’t-”

Nyx stared at the wall.

Counted to a million.

Reminded himself Mors was dead.

“You did the right thing.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come hang out on [DW](https://notavodkashot.dreamwidth.org/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/notavodkashot), if you'd like.


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